Keep Your Friends Close
by RosetheRabbit
Summary: Korra's a new student in a small town, and is less then thrilled at the prospect. However, she quickly gains a friend. Meanwhile, Kai tries to deal with his abusive father and the chemistry teacher hides a life changing secret. Kainora, maybe other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

Stepping through the double doors of her new high school, Korra was too taken by the uniquely abhorrent pioneer printed onto the grimy school wall to avoid the puddle of neon Dutch Brothers cleverly lying in wait for her foot. All at once, her heel slid forward and the girl spilled onto the ground.

"Shit," she grunted, pushing herself back up. Luckily, she had avoided getting the malevolent liquid all over her pants. Korra was aware that she could be clumsy, but breaking a new record for time taken to fall on her ass was not one of her priorities. At least no one had seen her.

Right on cue, a voice called out from above, "You ok?" Korra craned her head up until she met the bright green eyes of a girl leaning on the second floor railing.

"Yeah," she said, embarrassed. "Thanks."

The other girl smiled, brushing back her dark hair. "Are you new? I haven't seen you around."

"This is my first day here," Korra answered.

"Where you from?" she said quirkily.

"Alaska," Korra said.

"Whoa…Don't hear that very often. That's cool. Hey, if you need any help with getting acclimated- just let me know. I've been here for the last three years, so I know where everything is," she said.

Korra smiled and said, "I didn't catch your name?"

The dark haired girl replied, "I'm Asami. Asami Sato. And you are?"

"Korra," she replied.

"Korra what?" Asami asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Just Korra," she replied, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. The singular name was always a source of confusion. Every time she had to move she was forced to try explaining it to some skeptical teacher or would-be friend.

"Just Korra? Funny first name," she smiled, still friendly, and Korra almost rolled her eyes because it wasn't anywhere near the first time someone had made that joke. And it would definitely not be the last.

"Yeah, well, I have to get my schedule and figure everything out. See you later," the blue eyed girl said. She walked under the overpass, disliking the tactical disadvantage of traveling on the ground floor. Her head was a prime target for misbegotten lunch food, spit, and crumpled paper.

"See you," Asami called out behind her. Korra didn't look back.

Her first class was P.E. Korra entered the girl's locker room, taking in the cramped blue lockers and the permanent stench of feet and perfume.

A voice escaped from a miniature office at the front of the locker room, calling her over.

A stout blonde woman in a loud pink jogging suit stepped out. "And who are you, coming so late to class?"

"I'm a new student here," Korra explained, wanting to avoid an unpleasant encounter.

"Your name?" the woman said rudely, arching a drawn-on eyebrow.

"Korra. It's just Korra, I don't have any last name," she stared in the pudgy woman's beady eyes, wondering why gym teachers were never athletic.

"Korra, huh? Really, no last name? You're not just being lazy?" the teacher asked. "Normally, I have late students do twenty pushups to avoid a tardy on their permanent record."

Korra shrugged, not really caring about anything on her permanent record. Pushups weren't hard though, so she went along with the plump bitch. "Sure," she remarked emotionlessly. Dropping to the floor, the girl positioned her arms and feet, keeping her back straight.

"No girl push-ups," the teacher said redundantly.

Korra didn't react, just started lowering herself to the floor.

A chemistry later, the girl found herself staring into the void that was the cafeteria, wondering where she was supposed to sit. The tables seemed to be an interconnected web of social connections and newcomer exclusion. Korra briefly studied two particularly loud girls; a redhead and a brunette, who somehow occupied the same seat, and seemed happy yelling at their friends across the room. At her old school, she had had a small group of friends, but still had been friendly with the general population of the school. There were so many more people here she didn't even know where to start…

"Korra," someone said brightly behind her.

"Yeah?" Korra said automatically, turning to see who had addressed her. Asami Sato sauntered towards her, an attractive boy in tow.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Asami asked, one hand resting on her hips.

"Sure," Korra said, almost seeming moody. If she hadn't had to move to Oregon, she wouldn't need to try and make new friends. The situation was unfair.

They sat at one of the circular tables and Korra pulled her blue lunchbox out of her bag. Setting it on the tabletop, she looked up as Asami said, "Korra, this is Mako. My boyfriend. Mako, this is Korra, she's a new student here from Alaska."

"Nice to meet you," the guy said through a mouthful of sandwich. Korra nodded and pulled out the contents of her lunch. A peanut butter sandwich, beef jerky, and a baggy of skittles claimed their places on the table. "Is that, like, walrus jerky? Cuz you're from Alaska?" Mako asked, eying the dried meat.

"Yeah," Korra lied, inwardly smiling. "My dad killed it and I helped skin it. Want to try some?"

"What does walrus taste like," the boy asked, completely believing her.

"Oh, I don't know, what type of animals do you have down here?" Korra asked, amused.

"Uh… cows… chickens…pigs, you know," he said awkwardly.

"What's a cow?" Korra asked, trying to look confused while fighting off the urgent need to laugh.

Asami giggled and elbowed Mako, saying, "She's kidding, idiot."

He looked even more confused for a couple of seconds. "Oh… so is that walrus jerky?"

Korra burst out laughing, surprising herself with the sincerity of the expression. Asami joined in, hand covering her mouth. Smiling good-naturedly, Mako shook his head. He leaned back, then shot forward and grabbed the bag of jerky, pulling out a handful and stuffing it in his mouth. Korra froze, mouth open, and stared in furious amazement at the boy. He smiled cockily, resembling a self-satisfied chipmunk. Asami reached over and pretended to pull his spiky hair, face contorted in faux anger.

"Mishn accmplshd," he congratulated himself.

"Jerk," Korra said, but she couldn't help smiling.

The rest of the day passed relatively quickly. Korra had Zoology, English, and Discrete Math, and the latter was stretching minutes into days. Fortunately, she had the class with Mako and his brother, Bolin. Unfortunately, they sat on the other side of the room. Korra spent most of the period pulling faces at Bolin, who was an expert and contorting his features. They hadn't even officially met, but Korra found herself liking his clowny personality. Mako watched the two coolly, refusing to join in on the antics, but having trouble not smiling. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all…

Finally, the bell rang. Korra headed outside with the rest of the students, spilling outside like aggravated ants. She surveyed the line of clunky yellow buses, wondering which was supposed to take her home. Hesitantly stepping up to the nearest driver, she asked, "How do I know which bus to take?"

"Where do you live," the driver asked irritably.

"South Redland road… I don't remember the street address. We just moved." Korra tried, smiling despite her premonition of the bus driver's indifference to her recent relocation."

"Well that's too bad for you," the woman grunted. "Get off my bus, first round has to leave."

"But, how am I supposed to find my bus-"

"Off," she barked, practically pushing Korra off the steps. The girl almost fell but twisted and landed on her feet. She looked up at the obese woman, blue eyes icy. Snapping shut, the bus doors formed a sound proof barrier.

Korra locked eyes and slowly mouthed the word asshole.

The engine sputtered to life and the bus pulled away, leaving the girl alone on the pavement. Well, almost alone. One guy was heading determinedly in her direction, face set in suggestive grin that could only mean one thing.

"Bitch face equipped," Korra muttered to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! Here's the second chapter of my LoK fic. Hope you like it! Comments are appreciated.**

The tall blonde stopped next to her, intentionally putting himself inside her bubble. Korra made a point of taking a step back without looking at the guy.

"Hey doll," he drawled, smirking. "Should I ask you out on a date, or do you just want to head straight to the hotel."

"Get lost," Korra said pleasantly, trying to avoid a scene.

"Well that's not a very nice way to talk to your man," he said, still smiling. Korra snapped a little. People were always finding new way to be jerks. She turned and held out her hand. The blonde guy took it and raised his eyebrows.

"Congratulations," Korra snapped.

"For what?"

"Being named the world's biggest asshole. This award is given in recognition of your unparalled lack of basic decency and attractiveness. Now get the fuck out of here…"

He turned red and he growled, "Bitch, you're gonna wish you never-" His head whipped back as Mako's fist collided with his face.

"You ok?" he asked, amber eyes worried.

"Damn, Mako," she joked. "I was about to do that. Thanks for spoiling it."

I watched Mako punch Dick in the face, enjoying the boy's horrified expression. The asshole had more than one punch coming to him, but I was willing to space out his punishments. It wasn't enough that he had already messed with me, he had to go after the new girl on her first day. What can you say…? Dick was dick.

Mako and Korra were heading over toward my bike, the dark haired boy wearing a goofy grimace as he dangled his bruised hand.

"I should've let you do that, Dick has a really thick skull," he joked. I smiled, admiring the twinkle in my boyfriend's amber eyes.

"And here I was thinking you were a tough guy," Korra laughed.

"I am," he said. "Just check out my manly car." Mako gestured to the black jeep parked next to me. He had bought it a couple months back, and still took every opportunity to boast about the machine. Personally, I preferred the custom-made motorcycle my father had gifted me on my eighteenth birthday. It was black, but shot through with golden veins that snatched the sunlight and tossed it around like confetti. The bike's underbelly was a faded chrome red, a little like the color of half dried blood. It could accelerate from zero to sixty miles per hour in three seconds and with a 194 hp engine, I was ready for anything the road threw at me. Not that I've ever really needed that sort of power, but it always made for interesting conversation.

"Hey guys," I called out, perched halfway onto the seat.

Mako grinned at me, eyes trailing suggestively.

"Uh, hi," Korra said uneasily. "I can leave if you two want."

"No, wait. Korra needs a ride home, she missed her bus," Mako explained.

"The bus driver was a bitch," the girl muttered, blue eyes downcast.

"I can give you a ride," I offered. "Or Mako, if you're not comfortable on a motorcycle." I admit, this was sort of my personal test for people who planned to be my friend. If they wanted to like me, then they damn well better accept my choice of transportation.

Korra met my eyes defiantly, and accepted my silent challenge. "I've always wanted to ride a motorcycle," she said.

"Hop on behind me," I said, smiling. "Put this on." I handed the girl my extra helmet and a pair of gloves.

She slid in behind me, asking "Do I hold on to you or is there something I'm s'pose to grab onto?"

"Just put your arms around my waist, and don't grab my shoulders or anything when we're moving," I answered cheerily. This would be fun. "If you need me to slow down tap my right shoulder once, if you need me to stop tap it twice. Just make sure you don't put your weight on it."

"Gotcha," Korra said, sounding excited. "Where do I tap if I want you to speed up?" I turned around and looked at her. The dusky girl had this big grin plastered on her face, eyes frenetic.

I smiled back and said, "Left shoulder."

Mako stood, arms crossed, and said, "Not too fast though, right guys? I like my girlfriend alive."

"Ready to go?" I asked Korra, blowing a kiss to Mako.

"Hell yeah," she said. "I live off of Redland, back past Holcomb Blvd."

I gunned the bike and felt the girl's arms wrap around my waist. We rolled out of the parking spot and into the lot, Mako following carefully behind us. He worried about a new driver hitting me, especially around the school parking lot. It was sweet, but if a new driver was going to hit me, they would have to follow me over the curb. Being a biker, I always had several escape plans to compensate for idiots.

The buses having already left, it was slightly less hellish to escape the school's parking lot. Korra tensed up for the first couple turns, and I was surprised at the girl's impressive musculature. She was ripped underneath her tight leather jacket. Right before we exited onto the road, I reached back and squeezed her leg reassuringly. I wasn't really surprised when she reached one hand off my midriff and patted my leg in return, apparently reassuring me. The motorcycle smoothly sped up as we started down the road. While Korra's lack of fear was admirable, I didn't want to put her off motorcycles to make a point. We headed out of the school zone and sped down the road, heading past the local community college. I felt her shift and tap my left shoulder. That didn't take long. Korra tightened her grip as I gunned the bike, pushing it until we were going fifty on a forty mph road. The highway was coming up soon and I slowed to make the right turn without flinging my passenger into the intersection. As soon as we were clear I accelerated back up to fifty, content to linger at a comfy pace. A dark blue Subaru sped up behind us and didn't switch lanes.

Mako had turned off way back, so I has no shield between the idiot tailgater and my bike. Hoping to spare myself some stress, I merged into the left lane, hoping the driver would just pass us. The car swerved ominously behind us, then started to gain speed. What the hell was going on? Korra tapped my left shoulder good naturedly and I shot forward, hoping to lose the asshole. We made it to the intersection onto Holcomb Blvd and I turned a little faster than I normally would have, even with a passenger. Crazy tailgating idiots tend to make me reckless. As we turned, Korra clung tight, helmet smacking against mine, and again, despite the danger of the situation, I couldn't help but admire her physique.

The Subaru hadn't appeared behind us yet, so I was a little reluctant to slow down as Korra tapped right shoulder once, twice, three times and pointed left. We pulled into a little driveway that snaked surprisingly far before ending at a light blue, ranch style house. A big white dog ran out from behind, barking and running zigzagged because its tail was wagging so hard. I braked and we pulled to a smooth stop in the gravel. Korra slid off the bike and stood beside me, pulling her helmet off. Her dark hair spilled out and clung to her shoulders, drawing my eye more then I would've liked.

I sort of expected her to be shaken after an experience like that, but the first words out of her mouth were: "That was freaking awesome Asami."

"What," I said, surprised.

"You have to teach me how to drive one of these," she continued. Had she not noticed how we had almost been run off the road?

"That guy from school was totally trying to get us, but you just gunned it and he couldn't even keep up," she said, grinning from ear to ear.

"Guy… from school?" I asked.

"Yeah that sonofabitch Mako punched."

"I'm going to kill him," I said. Dick had pushed things too far. I was going to make sure he got what he deserved.

"Mako or that jerk?" Korra asked, looking worried. "Mako was just being a good guy, so there's really no reason to-"

"That misogynistic waste of oxygen," I interrupted. "His name is Dick Smith."

"It's my fault he came after us," Korra said, smile fading away.

"No, don't blame yourself, he hates me too," I said hastily. "Back in our sophomore year, he asked me out and I declined. He didn't take it well, and he's hated me ever since."

"Hey, Asami," Korra said suddenly. "Want food or something before you head to… wherever you're going?"

"No thanks," I replied, smiling. "I want to leave before Dick gets onto Redland.

"Ok," Korra said, looking a little disappointed. "See you tomorrow."

"Definitely," I replied, waving a little before I pulled my helmet back on. Korra seemed like a really nice person. It would be good to get to know her better


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys. Sorry if I confused anyone with my switch from 3****rd**** person to 1****st****. It was unintentional haha. Korra is going to be written in 3****rd****, while Asami is in 1****st****. Thanks for all the nice comments! I promise there will be more Kainora, but I'm still getting the structure set up. It will happen, I promise. Feel free to point out problems or leave ideas, I like knowing how I can make this better. Comments generally make me want to update faster!**

Korra watched Asami ride away, wishing the girl could've stayed a little longer. If she didn't screw things up, Korra might have a best friend within the first week of school. She turned and followed Naga back behind the house. A long brown head curled around the hidden barn, followed by a friendly nicker. Smiling involuntarily, Korra loped over to the horse and rubbed its face with her hand. The creature dipped down and ground its head into her torso, rubbing sending white hair flying in the air. Korra laughed and stepped back, brushing the hair off her jacket.

"I'll be right back, Chuck" she told the animal, then rushed inside with Naga in tow. The fridge housed a bucket of carrots specifically for the horse. Retrieving two of the vegetables, Korra stepped happily into her room and saw his head poke in through the open window above her bed.

Handing him one carrot, she said, "Hey Chuck. Remember how I said school was going to suck? Well it sort of did, but I made a friend already, and she seems really cool. Her name's Asami and she has this badass motorcycle- well really she's the badass, but the motorcycle makes it even cooler. You'd probably like her. I'll have to introduce you two," Korra said, chuckling as Charlie arched his neck and nuzzled her stomach, wanting the other carrot. She let him bite off the tip, then wiped it on her pants and bit off a piece for herself. Lying on the bed, she felt homesick for Alaska, but a growing piece of her also wished she was here, with Asami Sato.

Korra growled as her alarm clock startled her awake. The muscular teen slammed her fist into the device, forgetting her own strength in morning's hazy embrace. The plastic case cracked and cut her hand. Suddenly very awake, Korra swore and pressed her hand into her pajama shirt. She stumbled out of bed cursing and found her way to the bathroom. Thrusting her hand under the sink, she watched the water turn pink as the blood gleefully fled from the pinky side of her hand.

"Dammit. Dammit. Dammit," she hissed as her hand throbbed. Grabbing a towel, she held it against the gash until it seemed to stop bleeding. At least it was her left non-dominant hand, she would still be able to write… though getting out of writing would've actually been quite nice. Glancing at the clock sent Korra into a whole new type of panic. She had five minutes to get dressed and out the door. She bounded back into her room, disregarding the blood spattered over her dresser and bed as she rushed into a blue hoodie and baggy jeans. Hurrying back into the bathroom, she ran a brush through her mane of dark hair, gave up, and pulled it into a high ponytail. At that point her hand started bleeding again and Korra growled as she felt it drip into her ponytail and hit the back of her neck. Screw this. She grabbed another towel and burst out the front door. Korra kicked on her boots and hobbled down the house's one lonely step. Booking it down the driveway would've been easier if she had her boots on right, but she didn't, and she sure as hell wasn't going to waste time fixing them.

I got to school early, like I did almost every day, and headed to the student council room in F-Hall. The sloped hallway was stricken with glitter that the lower classmen had failed to remove. I would need to have a talk with them about their homecoming decorations. Glitter was aptly named the herpes of the art world. Entering the room, I flashed a smile at Jinora, my favorite freshman of all time. She was tiny and adorably mature, unlike all the other pimply children calling themselves high schoolers. We had hit it off during a heated debate concerning Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. A sophomore girl had commented how cute and romantic it was: both of us felt the urgent need to correct her.

"How are you today Sami?" the girl asked, following me over to my desk.

"I'm good, how about you?" Jinora liked to find a new adjective to describe how she felt every day, one more reason why she was awesome.

"Sterling," she said primly, then, "Kai said he saw someone try to run you over yesterday."

"He saw that and he didn't try to help me?" I asked skeptically.

"He was on the other side of the divider… with his dad…" she said. I watched her little face twist uncomfortably, and understood. Kai's dad… was not someone I would ever want to meet. "But anyways Sami, are you ok? Who would try to run you off the road?"

"Our favorite dick," I said savagely. "I was giving Korra a ride home, and he had gotten the idea into his little pinhead to come after us."

Jinora's eyes widened theatrically, and she whispered, "That asshole!"

"Don't tell Mako," I asked pleadingly. "He just turned eighteen and I really don't want him sent to prison for murder."

"Your secret is safe with me," Jinora assured, reaching out and patting the top of my head. "Who's Korra?"

"She's new. She came all the way from Alaska. I like her so far."

"Wow, I've always wanted to visit Alaska," Jinora said happily. "What does she look like?"

"She's really pretty," I found myself blurting. Crap. "Um- really bright blue eyes, dark hair, dark skin- not like really dark, sort of a light brown I guess?" Finishing my description, I let out a breath and decided I had redeemed myself.

"I'd like to meet her."

"Why?" I asked, a little surprised. Jinora was usually pretty shy around upperclassmen.

"You really seem to like her," she answered.

"How do you know?"

"When you talk about someone you care about, you relax, but you can't hold eye contact. It's like you're embarrassed to be caught with emotions. If you don't care about them, then you'd be less animated," she said smugly.

"Jinora…"

"Yes?"

"Why are you so freaking smart?" I said, then added out of curiosity, "What do I do when I talk about someone I hate?"

"Your eyes go all scary and cold and you sort of tense up and drill holes into my face with them."

"Oh. Like this?" I said, trying to fight a smile while glaring at Jinora. She laughed and I couldn't help joining in. I sat back in my chair and wiped the wet away from the corners of my eyes. Smiling at my friend, I said reluctantly, "I really should start getting this crap sorted and done."

"Of course, student council president," she replied, saying the title like she was speaking to an emperor.

"Shut up," I laughed, reaching across the desk and grabbing a pen. "Go be adorable elsewhere so I can get shit done.

"I'm gonna go find Korra and bring her here and we can annoy you together," Jinora decided.

I rolled my eyes, pretending to ignore her. As the girl was about to go out the door, I grabbed a highlighter out of my pencil jar and sent it flipping through the air. She yelped as it ricocheted off her shoulder, and hurried out into the hallway. The door shut, and the highlighter stopped rolling

Silence. I stared at the pen, willing it to come back to me. It lay there, alone on the glitter marred floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Korra made it to school without passing out on the bus, but when she tried to dismount the vehicle her head started spinning. Clutching the towel to her hand, she made her way inside. Students milled around the front entrance, making it hard to get anywhere and Korra realized she had no idea where the school's health office was, or if they even had one. She reflected on the fact that Asami would've known, but Korra had no idea where to find her either.

"Excuse me," a small voice inquired from her right. "Are you the newcomer known as Korra?"

Korra glanced right, then down and beheld the tiny girl addressing her. She was short and built delicately. It looked like she could be blown away with a gust of wind. "Who're you?" Korra asked tiredly, hand throbbing unpleasantly.

"I'm Jinora, Asami's friend," she replied. "You don't look so good. Would you like me to direct you to the health office?"

"You know Asami?" Korra asked, more alert. "Where is she?"

"Come on, your hand's bleeding through your towel. I'll tell you all about it when we get you some real bandages."

Jinora led the girl into wide dimly lighted hallway that was covered in scholarship applications for college bound seniors.

"How old are you?" Korra asked woozily as she was pulled through a door labeled: health office.

"I'm fourteen," the girl answered, knocking on a second door.

"You seem pretty small to be in high school," Korra mumbled.

"I get that a lot," the girl replied. The door swung open and an old women motioned us in, mouth thinning as she saw the drippy red towel.

"What happened?" she asked calmly. Korra liked her almost immediately, but wasn't really sure why. Maybe she'd know when she wasn't inhibited by blood loss.

"My alarm clock broke and I cut my hand on it," Korra said. "I couldn't get it to stop bleeding before the bus came, so I just hoped someone here could help me out and went to school."

"Lucky for you, the school has a pretty good health system," the woman said. "I'll be right back with some iodine and real bandages." Korra nodded, then noticed Jinora with her phone angled at her.

"What are you-" she started, but Jinora interrupted.

"I'm snap chatting a picture of you to Asami," she answered, not taking her eyes off the phone.

"What?!" the older girl gasped, blue eyes growing wide. "Why…" She stared with a mixture of horror and anticipation at the small girl.

"Because you said I was too little to be in high school, and because Asami will get distracted from whatever important student council things she's doing and my mission will be completed. You're getting blood on your sweater." She smiled sweetly at Korra, whose mind was racing. She didn't know why she cared so much, but maybe that was a product of the blood loss as well. Damn alarm clock.

"Ooo look, Asami snapped me back," Jinora said teasingly. She opened the message and saw her friends face creased in a mix of worry and annoyance. The line of text read: You found her? What happened?

Korra craned her head around, trying to see, and Jinora turned the phone around for the last few seconds of the snap. "She looks pissed."

The woman walked back into the waiting room, giving Jinora an amused glance as she saw the phone. "If you come over to the sink, we can fix up that hand of yours," she said to Korra. "Jinora, you know the rules about phones in the waiting room. Put it away before someone who cares sees it."

"Sorry Mrs. Southwater," the girl said unapologetically. "I'll get rid of the evidence right after I let Asami know Korra isn't bleeding to death."

"You do that," the old woman said, smiling. Just as she was wrapping a final strip around Korra's hand, the door sprung open and a boy limped in. He had dark tousled hair and bright hazel eyes, though one was bruised and swollen partly shut. Korra watched him as he saw Jinora and tried to conceal the limp in his step, the pain in his movements.

"Kai!" she cried out, and ran to him, stopping short of a hug as she saw him brace himself. "What happened to you?" she said.

"I got into an argument with a guy at work," he said, trying to smile. "You should've seen him when we were through." Jinora frowned at him and whispered too low for Korra to hear. He growled something back and Jinora's eyes filled with tears. She hurried out the door leaving Korra, the nurse, and the dark haired boy watching it shut in silence.

When Jinora reappeared, I was surprised not to see Korra there with her. I almost started to tease her, but one look at her face killed that idea.

"What's wrong?" I asked, moving out from behind my desk and hurrying over to her.

"We were just in the health office and Kai came in…" her voice trailed off and she stared off to the side, not making eye contact.

"Is he ok?" I asked, worried.

"No," she said, shoulders starting to shake. "His dad… his face was all swollen up and he was limping," Jinora cut herself off and looked at me, eyes teary. "He looks really hurt."

"Shit," I murmured. Stepping closer, I wrapped the tiny girl up in a hug and pulled her over behind my desk. Jinora let herself slide into the cushioned chair and I plopped down beside her on the floor. I had known Kai's father believed in old style punishments, but nothing had ever gotten this extreme. Then again, he came to the first week of school with an arm cast, claiming he'd injured himself in a snowboarding accident. Who knew what he'd really been going through?

"Why does he put up with it?" Jinora asked miserably. I looked up at her, completely lost for words.

Finally, I settled on a useless, "I don't know."

We sat together in silence until a curious freshman opened the door and abrasively called out, "Anyone here?"

"Not today," I yelled back before Jinora had to say anything. Standing, I glared at the freckled boy standing at our threshold.

"Well, you're obviously here," he said, a slow smirk crossing his face.

"Come back later and I'll help you out," I replied, trying to mask irritation.

"That sounds promising," he said grinning. Screw politeness. I picked up the stapler on the desk and cocked my arm, ready to launch.

"Asami…" Jinora cautioned behind me. "You really don't need to-"

"Counting to three," I said menacingly. "You really don't want to test me. Three."

"You wouldn't," the boy said.

"Two-one," I finished, then hurled the stapler. He turned and threw himself out the door. The stapler hit the wall and skated across the floor. "There. No more idiots."

"Asami, you're going to get in trouble if you keep throwing stuff at people," Jinora said, sounding worried, but also a little happier.

"So be it," I allowed, returning to my spot next to her. I would throw my desk at someone if it would cheer my friend up.

We were silent until the bell rang.

"See you at lunch?" Jinora asked, eyes dull.

"Yeah, do you want to eat in here?"

She glanced at me, then nodded.

"I'll kick everyone out and say I have an important meeting or something," I offered.

"Thanks Asami. You're the best." She smiled a little.

"I know," I agreed. "Do you care if Mako stops by?"

"No, you really don't have to do all this. Mako can eat lunch with us whenever he wants. And Korra too. I just- I just don't know how to react to all the crap going on with Kai."

"Ok," I said carefully, hoping I wasn't reading her wrong. "I'll let Mako and Korra know to come here for lunch."

Jinora smiled weakly, and we headed out the door to class.


	5. Chapter 5

Korra sat in chemistry, trying to focus on the VSEPR theory as the kids around her stared and whispered. Her hand was wrapped in a ball of linen, the side of which was tainted pink. She bitterly wondered whether they had ever seen a real injury before. The teacher, a middle aged woman named Mrs. Ana, turned and made eye contact with the girl. Korra felt a thrill of adrenaline race through her system, acting as a prelude to the question she was going to have to answer.

"Korra, what does VSEPR stand for?"

"Valence um… shell electron pair revulsion?" she tried, giving the teacher a sheepish grin.

"Close," Ana allowed, returning the smile. "Does anyone know what the last word in the mnemonic is?" A girl in the back of the class offered her hand. "Yes, Jaimee?"

"Repulsion, not revulsion," she said confidently, aiming a haughty glance at Korra. The older girl made a rude gesture under the cover of her desk. Jaimee's face turned red and Korra smiled to herself.

"Correct," the teacher said. She gave Korra a pointed glance but didn't comment. A little later, the bell rang, signifying the start of lunch.

Korra wandered into the cafeteria, trying to figure out where Asami and Mako had hid themselves. She really didn't want to eat lunch alone, but she also didn't want to appear clingy… Who was she kidding? Asami was her only friend in this city, and the green eyed girl knew it. If Korra couldn't find her, it was probably for a reason. The tanned girl heaved a sigh and wandered over to a square based pillar, sitting dejectedly with her lunch in her lap. She looked up as a couple scrawny boys ogled her on their way to a table packed with equally tiny friends. Figuring she might as well make some backup friends in case her current two fell through, Korra let a small smile grace her lips. The boy closer to her turned red and craned his head to keep staring, completely unaware of his surroundings. Korra winced as he rammed into a tall, athletic senior donning a letterman jacket.

"What the hell?" he said angrily.

"S-sorry," the smaller boy stammered, eyes flicking from the irritated boy to Korra, then back again.

"Got your eyes on a senior girl, huh? They don't want nothing to do with little faggoty wimps like you," he said, fist closing over the younger boy's shirt. Korra felt her blood boil, and stood up, ready to lock horns with the asshole.

"Hey!" she called, striding toward them. "I'm a junior, not a senior, and where the hell do you get off talking to anyone that way?"

"Doll, if I wanted you to open your mouth I would've made it clear,' he said dismissively. Face heating up, Korra effortlessly pushed the senior back and slammed him into the wall, effectively separating him from the other boy.

"If I wanted you to open your mouth, I would've let _you_ know," she parroted. Holding him against the wall for another second, she relaxed and turned away, walking towards the hallway. She felt a breeze tickle the back of her head and whirled, eyes widening at the scene. Asami Sato stood before her, one hand closed around the senior guy's fist. Following the trajectory of the foiled attack, Korra realized he had been aiming for her head.

"Hitting a girl while her back is turned?" Asami smirked. "That's low, even for you."

The guy started to say something, but Asami interrupted him.

"If I wanted you to open your mouth I would've made it explicitly clear," she said icily. "Now, fuck off. You can't win this." Asami pushed him away and turned towards Korra, face becoming reassuringly friendly. "Come on Korra," she chirped, one arm around the shorter girl's neck. "Let's go have lunch."

Korra couldn't help but stare at Asami as they walked to the student council room. Her eyes were intense, electric, like she was still buzzed for a fight. And there was something else, something that kept her looking. Asami glanced down and met Korra's eyes, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Instantly, Korra averted her gaze, hoping the older girl hadn't found her creepy.

"You seemed like you knew what you were doing in the cafeteria," Asami said, amused. Korra glanced up and smiled. Fighting was something she was good at; she wouldn't embarrass herself talking about it.

"So did you," she replied.

"I've taken some self-defense lessons."

"Me too. I used to compete in my town's annual wrestling festival. Champion for the last… well, since I started fighting when I was ten."

"We should spar sometime," Asami murmured, narrowing her eyes at the shorter girl.

Korra looked at her, taking in the girl's slender, feminine build and almost laughed. "You find a place and just let me know when." Then feeling cocky, she added, "I'll go easy on you."

Asami did laugh then, voice ringing through the hallways. Pink faced, she covered her mouth and composed herself. "Tell you what, I'll go easy on you."

Korra grinned and shook her head. "No handicaps then."

"It's a date."

I held the door open for Korra as we entered the student council room. She shot me a surly look that seemed to point out the redundancy of opening a door she was clearly capable of handling. I smiled sweetly, and motioned for her to enter. Mako looked up and made a face when he saw us. Scrunching my nose, I stuck my tongue out at him and a smile crept up. Jinora barely glanced at us and I felt my good mood drain away.

"How you doing?" I asked, sliding into the seat adjacent.

She glanced at me, looking tired.

"I brought you a cookie," I tried, hoping for a smile. One side of the girl's mouth twitched upward. I could work with that. "It's a snickerdoodle." I pulled the somewhat deformed disc out onto the desk.

Jinora allowed a small smile to grace her features before saying, "Thanks Sami."

"So where's my cookie?" Korra asked, face quizzical.

"You haven't earned one," I replied. "I think you actually owe me, seeing as I just saved your ass."

Korra frowned, dark eyebrows leaning over her intense blue irises, and said, "I could've handled myself. Like I said, I'm good at fighting."

"I blocked that punch for you. The least you could do is offer a favor in return." I raised an eyebrow and smirked, not seriously expecting her to offer anything.

"When the time comes, I'll take a hit for you then," Korra decided. "I wouldn't want your pretty little face to get banged up." Now she was smirking, eyes locked on mine. This was a challenge. I accepted it.

"Ladies, lets save the sparring for Asami's private gym," Mako interjected.

"You have a private gym?" Korra asked incredulously.

"Mako!" I growled. "What the hell?" I hated it when anyone talked about my financial advantages, especially in front of friends. It usually led to fake relationships, hurt feelings, and a bad reputation. I'd managed to keep it quiet in high school, after a taxing verbal debate with my father about wanting a normal life. Hoping to salvage the situation, I turned to Korra and murmured, "I'm really good friends with the manager of this upper class gym. Mako and I get to work out there for free."

'Oh," she said, looking confused. "So maybe we could go there and I could beat your ass?"

I really wanted to do this now, but I stifled my competitive urges with an impressive show of self-control. Jinora giggled and I looked at her, feeling instantly guilty for getting distracted and ignoring her.

"You guys are really funny to watch," she said, smiling at me. "I want to see this fight." Huh.

"Watching me butt heads with an overconfident hobbit is funny to you?" I asked, cutting my eyes towards the noticeably shorter girl to gauge her reaction. Korra abruptly stood up and stalked toward me. I rose as well, looking down my nose at her. "You cannot deny you are short."

"I formally challenge you, Asami Sato," Korra huffed. "You have insulted my fighting expertise, my honor, and most importantly-" she paused, a smile playing at the corners of her lips- "My stature. When are we doing this?"

"Friday, after school, at my friend's gym," I said. "There's a hand-to-hand tournament we can enter. If you're as good as you say, we'll battle for the championship. I made a mental note to hire fighters before Friday. Today was Tuesday, I still had some time.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys! Sorry for the wait... and the short chapter. Also I'd like to apologize for all the confusion with the multiple POV's. But anyway, this little chapter is your Christmas present, and I know it's really not much. Feel free to gripe at me in the reviews. Tell me what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right- and maybe I'll have time to do another chapter before I go on Christmas vacation.**

Korra made her way outside, wondering if she would be able to locate her bus before it left. As she stepped onto the grass, a familiar voice hailed her. Mako approached, looking flustered and upset.

"Asami told me what Dick tried to do," he seethed. "I'm gonna go teach him a lesson."

"Asami said that she was going to deal with it," Korra said, wondering exactly what her friend had meant by that.

"Her way of dealing with it was to report it to the school. That didn't do jack shit!" Korra stayed silent.

"I heard that bastard talking in the hallway earlier today about some 'stupid bitch that he was gonna rough up!' I had no idea he was talking about my girlfriend."

Korra opened her mouth, wanting to say something about how that wasn't ok to say about any girl, and if he had heard someone talking like that he really should have intervened immediately, but Mako wasn't finished.

"How does Asami get herself into these messes? I swear, sometimes she's more work than she's worth," Mako finished.

Korra's face darkened, disliking Mako's accusations. "It was my fault Dick is after us, Asami had nothing to do with it," she pointed out.

"What?" he said. "No, she's always getting herself into these messes, she can act like such an entitled- anyways, come with me to bash Dick's face in. I'll give you a ride home."

"I don't really think that's a good idea," Korra said. "Besides, I have to go home now and exercise my horse-" she whirled around as the bus engines growled into life. The long, yellow vehicles started pulling away. The girl brought her hand to her forehead and swore.

"That was a sign, Korra. Come on, Dick's probably hanging around with his friends in free parking." Korra followed, not because she needed a ride, or to fight a dick, but because she knew that she could probably stop Mako from doing anything too stupid.

By the time the two reached free parking, most of the cars had left. There wasn't anyone in the lot, but Mako grinned and strode toward a cherry red convertible. Korra had to jog to catch up to him, saying, "No one's here, let's go."

The wild eyed boy ignored her, irises strangely red in the Oregon light. He stooped by the fence blocking entry to a greenhouse, then hoisted a large stick out of the grass. It took about three seconds for Korra to connect the dots. It took another two for Mako to reach the convertible and smash out the headlights. He twirled the stick like a baton then brought it down on the hood.

"Stop it!" Korra yelled, trying to pull the stick out of the boy's hands. "Is Dick's car really worth being arrested for?"

"Yes! No. I don't know…"

Mako stopped struggling for control of the stick and let his shoulders drop. Korra jerked the branch out of his hands just as Dick walked out of the school building. His piggy eyes took in the dented, scraped up corpse of his car, then locked on the stick in Korra's hands. Shit. Before she could react, Mako grabbed her wrist and pulled her around, sprinting to his jeep.

"Get back here you fuckers!" Dick screamed. "Get back-" He was cut off as Korra pulled the door to Mako's car shut and he peeled out.

They drove in silence, Korra looking over at Mako's tense visage with worried blue eyes. Finally, the senior rubbed the back of his head and glanced over, saying, "This is what happened. Dick was mad about yesterday, so he beat up his own car and blamed us for it. They'll take our word over his, especially with Asami telling them about almost getting run off the road yesterday. As long as you keep your mouth shut, we should be fine."

Korra shifted uncomfortably, disliking the metaphorical corner she was being prodded into. "He saw me with the stick."

"Yeah, but you're just a girl. I doubt anyone would peg you as strong enough to put that dent in the hood," he said impatiently.

Korra glanced down, knowing she could've put a deeper dent in the convertible if she'd really wanted to. "I don't know about this."

"Look, if you want to say I did it, fine. I'm just saying Dick saw you holding the branch, not me. Don't drag me into your problems just because you feel guilty." His eyebrow were drawn together, eyes intense and burning, glaring right through her.

Korra's mouth fell open, her mind racing. Mako had busted the car. She had stopped him from completely breaking it. She hadn't even wanted to come along. Now he was threatening to blame her for this?

"Just don't say anything and all this will go away," he said in a softer, friendlier tone. "Dick'll get what he deserves and you won't be blamed for a crime you didn't commit. Everyone wins."

Wanting to object but having nothing to say, Korra glared at the amber eyed boy.

"Asami will take my word over yours," he informed her. "Where's the turn off to your house?"

Korra mutely gestured towards the approaching driveway, and Mako drove down and stopped the jeep in front of her house.

"Have a nice day," he said.

Korra ignored him and stalked away. Tomorrow was going to suck.


End file.
